彭蒙惠英语：Dive the South Pacific

Dive the South Pacific

By Yvette Cardozo

For many people, the South Pacific evokes 2 images of coconut 3 palms, fragrant 4 flowers, exotic fruit and, above all, romance. To a scuba 5 diver, it means much more

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For the diving devotee, French Polynesia in the South Pacific is a noteworthy dive spot for one key reason. Few other locations offer the chance to do “pass diving” while surrounded by sharks.

Pass diving, also called “pass flying,” is done in atolls, the rims 7 of extinct volcanoes that protrude 8 out of the water like the edge of a bowl. Cracks in the rim 6 form the “passes.” When tides force water in or out of the bowl, a fierce current — up to seven knots — flows through the cracks. The force of this surging water is enough to rip your facemask off.

We were in French Polynesia’s Tuamotu Archipelago — an hour by air northeast of Tahiti, at the king of all pass dives — Apataki Atoll. The channel here is narrow and V-shaped.

We dropped down into the water from the Tahiti Aggressor dive skiff. The current grabbed us immediately and we were off.

Sharks!

We cruised low over the coral heads to a point down the pass where Aggressor Captain Randy Wright crammed 9 fish heads into a hole. We attached ourselves to a rock with a reef hook to watch a pack of gray reef sharks tumbling head over tail in their effort to get the fish. Then they straightened out and flowed up the pass, looking like a river of sharks. Suddenly, they were gone.

Tethered to the rock, we held out our arms and drifted with the flow. Mostly it was a steady blast in the face, but every so often the current would gust 10 and we would flutter on the ends of our lines like leaves in the wind.

Later, at Rangiroa Atoll, part of the Tuamotu Archipelago, the sharks knew we were coming. The minute Randy got there with a tuna head, he was surrounded. A dozen gray reef sharks circled, getting closer with every turn until they were within touching 11 distance.

Vocabulary Focus

evoke 1 (v) [i5vEuk] to make someone remember something or feel an emotion

devotee (n) [7devEu5ti:] a person who strongly admires a particular person or is extremely interested in a subject or activity

protrude (v) [prE5tru:d] to stick out from or through something

Specialized 12 Terms

atoll (n) 2121 a ring-shaped island formed of coral which surrounds an area of sea water

knot (n) 节（水流、船舶、空气与飞机速度的一种单位） a measure of the speed of ships, aircraft or movements of water and air (approximately 1.85 km per hour)

archipelago (n) 群岛 a group of small islands

dive skiff (n phr) 潜水小筏 a small, shallow, flat-bottom boat used by divers 13 preparing to enter the water

coral head (n phr) 珊瑚头 a growing colony of live, tiny coral animals making small “mountains” on the ocean floor, or on an established coral reef

reef hook (n phr) 礁石挂钩 a metal claw attached to a rope and snap ring, which is then attached to a diver